Mail handling or transfer apparatus



P 5, 1933- G. w. LANGE ET AL MAIL HANDLING 0R TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed Nov. 20, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 5, 1933. e. w. LANGE ET AL MAIL HANDLING OR TRANSFER APPARATUS le W 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 5, 1933. G. w. LANGE ET AL MAIL HANDLING OR TRANSFER APPARATUS Filed Nov. 20, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Sept. 5, 1933 UN Eo STATES MAIL HANDLING OR. TRANSFER APPARATUS Gustav Lange and Gustav M. Lange,"

Bufialo, N. Y., assignors to The Fowler and Unin Horse Nail Company, Tonawanda,

N. Y., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 20, 1930 Serial No. 496,940

7 Claims. (c1. 258-43) This invention relates to improvements in mail handling or transfer apparatus of the type for transferring mail between railroad trains, while moving, and wayside stations.

One of its objects is the provision of a simple, compact and rugged apparatus of this character which has been designed to facilitate the handling of mail between moving trains and stations, which is reliable and efiicient in operation, and whose parts areso constructed as to afiord the transfer of the mailbags from one point to the other with maximum safety and without liability of loss of mail matter or of injury to the mail-bags.

' Another object of the invention is to provide the transfer apparatus with simple and eifective means for suspending the mail-bag-hanger from the train and at the wayside station and for positively guiding the hanger to the delivery points irrespective of the side-sway or lateral movement of the car when in motion.

A further object is the provision of means for absorbing the shocks incident to the transfer of the bags from the car to the station and vice versa. V

Other features of the invention reside in certain novel improvements in the construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and r particularly pointed out in the appended claims. In the accompanying drawings: j

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved transfer apparatus with its parts in operative relation, the car traveling toward the wayside station in readiness to deposit and pick up a mailbag; FigureZ is an enlarged horizontal section taken in the plane of line 2-2, Figure 1. Figure 3 is .a perspective View of the mail-bag hanger or supporting bar. Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section .taken on line 4-4, Fig- 40 ure 1. Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional top plan view of the mail-bag receiving wing. or support at the wayside station. Figure 6 is a top plan view, with the cover plate removed, of the companion delivery wing or support at the wayside station. Figure '7 is a similar view of the mail-bag delivery and receiving wings or supports on the car. Figure 8 is an enlarged vertical, longitudinal section taken on line -88, Figure 2. Figure 9 is a perspective view of the shock-absorbing device associated with the mail-bag receiving wings or supports.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

In its general organization, this improved apparatus comprises means disposed along the track at a wayside station including collapsible upper and lower mail-delivery and mail-receiving arms, and means mounted on the railway car for pro jection into and out of the door-opening thereof and having mail-bag delivery and receiving elements thereon, whereby as the train travels past the wayside station, a mail bag may be deposited at the station and at the same time one may be picked up. 7 i

In its preferred form, the mechanism at the wayside station for receiving and delivering the mail-bags, consists of a post or column 10 of structural steel adapted tobe mounted on a suitable platform disposed along the track and having vertically-swinging upper and lower maildelivery and mail receiving arms 11 and 12, respectively, which are disposed in verticallyspaced relation to. permit the corresponding means on the railway'car to pass horizontally between them, and which are horizontally spaced sufficiently so there will be no a interference betweenthe delivery and receiving operation. The upper arm 11 is fulcrumed intermediate its ends at one side of the post on a horizontal pintle 13 journaled in a bearing-bracket 14 secured to the front side of said .post, while the lower arm 12 is fulcrumed on a similarpintle 15 journaled in a bearing-bracket 16 located below the first-named bracket, as seen in Figures 1 and 4.

, At its outer end, the lower or mail-receiving arm .12 has alateral extension or fork-shaped .wing1'7 arranged substantially parallel to the track and. having a forwardly-converging notch or throat-like. opening 18' therein with itsopen ,end facing opposite tothat of thedirection of travel of thetrain for receiving the suspended hanger or transfer bar 19 from which the mailbag 20 is:detachably.,hung by snap-fasteners 21 or thelike. .Mounted at opposite sides of this wing and partially extending in opposing edgewise relation into its opening 18 are horizontally-swinging detents-or catch dogs 22 pivoted at 23and urged to their opposing contracted or projected position, shown by full lines The free or inner ends of these detents abut against corersponding shoulders 25 formed on in Figures 2 and 5, by corresponding springs 24.

pering edges of the wingeopeningwith its throat preferably provided with 26, the detents have opposing hook-like projections 27 which normally extend transversely of the throat to form a closure therefor and pre: vent accidental displacement of the transfer bar therefrom. After a mail-bag is deposited on this arm from a moving train, it can be readily detached by expanding the companion detents 22 and slipping the transfer bar off the wing in an obvious manner. To protect the detents and associated parts from the weather, they may be covered by a plate 28 of the same contour as the wing and secured thereto by screws or otherwise.

The companion upper arm 11 on the post at the wayside station, to which a mail-bag is attached to be picked up by the train, has a lateral extension or fork-shaped wing 29 ex tending in a direction opposite to that of the wing 17 and has a rearwardly-converging notch or opening 30 therein with its open end facing opposite to that of the wing-opening 18 or in the direction of movement of the train. Mounted atopposite sides of this wing and partially extending in opposing edgewise relation into its opening 30 are spring-pressed expandible detents 31, similar to those on the companion wing 1'7, whose opposing edges are convexly curved to enable the mail-bag to be readily slipped on and off the wing. The diverging free or inner edges 32 of these detents jointly constitute a closure in their normal position, as shown in l 'igures 2 and 6, to yieldingly retain the hanger bar 1'7 in the inner or 'throat-end of the opening 30; abutments 33 being provided for limiting the contracting movements of said detents. A cover 34 protects the detents and their springs from the weather.

The rear ends of the arms '11 and 12 are counter-balancing weights 35, which function, respectively, to hold the mail-receiving arm 12 in its elevated pro jected horizontal position, shown by full lines in Figure 1, with its weight abutting against a stop 36 applied to the post 10, and to hold the mail-delivery arm 11 in an elevated or upright position shown by dotted lines in said figure. When a mail-bag is deposited from the train onto the-arm 12, its weight automatically swings the latter to the pendant position shown by dotted lines in Figure -1,and when a bag is placed on the arms 11 to 'befpicked up by the train, the weight of the bag holds it in a projected horizontal position with the weight of the arm abutting against a stop 37 on the post. By this arm mounting, the respective arms are automatically collapsible incident to the reception and release of mail-bag loads, the'mail-bag to be delivered onto a passing train holding the upper arm 11 in operative'position until picked up by the train, after which said arm swings upwardly, and the mail-bag deposited from the train on to the lower arms 12 acting to swing the latter downwardly and bring the bagwithin easy reach of the mail clerk.

The mechanism disposed within the mail car 38 for delivering and receiving the mail-bags to and from "the arms 11 and 12 at the wayside station may be of any suitable construction, that shown in the drawings consisting of an upright post 39 disposed adjacent to the dooropening 40 and carrying a foldable arm construction adapted to be projected through said opening and carrying mail-bag supports arranged to travel in a horizontal plane between the upper and lower arms at the wayside stations. This arm construction consists of a horizontally-swinging inner member 41 fulcrurned on the post 39 and an outer member i2 having a universal connection 43 with said inner member to swing both vertically and horizontally relatively thereto, and thereby enable the arm structure to be compactly folded in the car when not in use as well as effect its contraction suinciently to pass into and out of the usual narrow door-opening 40. In order to rigidly hold the foldable arm structure in its operative projected position, shown in Figures 1 and 2, a latching device is provided which may include a rock shaft ie arranged to actuate vertically-moving locking pins 45 and adapted for I interlocking engagement with a collar 46 on the post 39 and with the connection 43, respectively. A handle i? applied to the rock shaft serves as a convenient means for controlling the shifting of the pins to their locked and released positions.

At its outer end the arm-section 42 terminates in oppositely facing lateral extensions or forkshaped wings 48, 49, the iorwardly iacing wing 4-8 being adapted to picl; up the mail-bag from the correspondingly-facing delivery wing 29 at the wayside station and the rearwardly-facing wing 49 being adapted to support the mail to be delivered onto the correspondingly-facing receiving wing 17 at the station. The receiving wing 48 has a rearwardly-converging notch or throat-like opening 50 andextending in opposing edgewise relation into this opening are horizontally-swinging detents or catch dogs 51 piv' oted at 52 and urged to their contracted position, shown in Figure '7, by springs 53. The free ends of these detents abut against corresponding shoulders 54 formed on the wing for limiting their inward contracting movement and the converging rear end of the opening 50 terminates in a receiving throat or pocket 55 into which the transfer bar 19 is finally projected when transferring the n1ail-bag from the station to the car. The detents have hook-like projections 56 which normally extend across the mouth of the throat and form a closure therefor to prcvent accidental displacement of the hanger bar therefrom. The delivery wing 49 has a forwardly converging notch or throat-like opening 57 into which project spring pressed detents'58 which may be analogous to the detents 31 on the wing 29. The wings 18, 49 may be provided with a cover plate 59 for protecting their operative parts from the weather.

It will be noted in Figures 2, 5, 6 and '2, that the receiving wings 17 and 48 at the wayside station and on the car, respectively, and the corn?- hit) panion delivery wings 29 and 49, are substantially the same in construction and function identically in the transfer of the mail-bags from the train to the station and viceversa.

The mail-bag hanger bar '19 is preferably provided at'its upper end with a suspension block or collar 60 which is adapted to engage the top side of the wings in the manner shown in Figure's 2 and 8 for sustaining the bar in its sus pended position from the wings. s seen in Figures 3 and 8, the bar is-iulcrumed at 51 to its suspension block to swing laterally of the wings or transversely relatively to the car, and to its lower end is fulcruined a pendant cross rod 62 free to swing lengthwise oi the car and carrying the snap-fasteners 21 -for the mail-bag at its ends. By this construction, while the mail-bag is freely suspended for more or'less universal movement,

its lateral swinging is limited by the upper portion of the hanger bar 19 contacting with the opposing edges of the receiving throats of the respective wings. The delivery wings 29, 49 may be'provided on their cover plates 34, 59, respec-.

tively, with stop lugs 63 against which the rear face of the suspension block 60 abuts when the hangerbar is inserted in place thereon.

For the purpose of yieldingly relieving or re sisting the impact resulting from the transferring of the hanger bar from one of the delivery wings to the companion receiving wing, we preferably employ a shockabsorbing device in conjunction with each receiving wing. 'While this device may be of any suitable construction, it preferably consists of an impact member or lever 64 fulcrumed at 65 to the underside of each receiving wing 1'? or 48 to swing horizontally and lengthwise thereof and having its intermediate portion 66 intersecting or extending across the rear end of the corresponding receiving throat 26 or 55, as depicted in Figures 5, 7 and 9. At its free end the impact lever is pivotally joined to a yieldingly-movable rod 67 extending into a casing 68 applied to the wing adjacent one of its longi tudinal edges and having coil spring 69 applied thereto. One end of this spring abuts against the casing-head while its other end bears against a collar 70 on the rod, whereby the impact bar 1 is normally disposed as shown in the drawings but is free to yield rearwardly and effectually cushion the hanger bar as it is propelled into the receiving throat.

In transferring mail from the car to the station and from the station to the car, the hanger-bars 19 are hung on the respective delivery wings 29, 49 by slipping them into the corresponding slotways 30, 57 with the detents 31, 58 effectually latching them in place. The receiving arm 12 at the station is swung upwardly to a horizontal position and is held therein by its counter-weight 35. Now, when the train reaches the station, the bag-hanger on the car enters the converging slot 18 of the receiving arm 12 and it snaps past the detents 22 thereof into the throat 26, where it is securely held by the detents and cushioned by the yieldable impact bar 64. Eventually the hanger drops from the car-wing 49 and its suspension block engages the top side of the receiving wing 1'1. Immediately after this transfer operation, the receiving arm 48 on the car comes into vertical alinement beneath the companion delivery arm 11 at the wayside station and in a similar manner picks up the bag-hanger suspended from it. When the bag-hanger is deposited from the train onto the receiving arm 12 at the wayside station, said arm drops by gravity to a substantially pendant position, and when the other bag-hanger is removed from the delivery arm 11 at the wayside station, said arm is automatically swung upwardly by its counterweight 35.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that various details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made therein without departing from its spirit or sacrificing any of its advantages.

We claim as our invention;-

l. In a railway mail transfer apparatus, mailbag receiving and delivery means including oppositely-facing wings having correspondinglyfacing notches therein, a hanger for a mail-bag adapted to be supported from one or the other of said wings and projectable into and out of their corresponding notches, and a yieldable impact barfulcrumed on the wing of said mailbag receiving means and having a portion extending across the inner end of its notch in the path of projection of the bag-hanger. V

2; In a railway mail transfer apparatus, mailbag receiving and delivery means including oppositely-facing wings having correspondinglyfacing notches therein, a hanger for a mail-bag adapted to be supported from one or the other of said wings and projectable into and out of their corresponding notches, an impact member fulcrumed on the wing of said mail-bag receiving means and having a portion extending across the notch in the path of projection of the baghanger, and means for yieldingly resisting the movement of said impact member in a direction toward the inner end of said notch.

3. In a railway mail transfer apparatus, a lower vertically-swinging mail-bag receiving arm having a throat-like opening therein and a counterweight thereon for normally holding said arm in an elevated horizontal position, an upper vertically-swinging mail-bag delivery arm having a throat-like opening therein facing in a direction opposite to that of the receiving arm opening and having a counterweight thereon for normally holding said arm in an elevated upright position, spring-pressed detents applied to each of said arms and normally extending across the throat-like openings thereof, said detents having opposing projections thereon which jointly constitute a closure for said openings, and a hanger for a mail-bag adapted to be supported from one or the other of said arms in engagement with their openings, the detent-projections on the receiving arm being abrupt to retain the hanger in its opening and the detentprojections on the delivery arm being shaped to effect the withdrawal. of the .hanger from its opening when a pull is exerted on the hanger in the direction of length of such opening.

4. In a railway mail transfer apparatus, collapsible upper and lower arms having rearwardly and forwardly extending mail-receiving and mail delivery wings, respectively, and containing correspondingly facing throat-like openings, said upper arm having a counterweight thereon for normally holding it in an elevated upright position andsaid lower arm having a counterweight thereon for normally holding it in an elevated horizontal position, and stops with which said arms are adapted to engage for arresting their movement beyond a predetermined position.

5. In a railway mail transfer apparatus, counter balanced vertically-swinging upper. and low-' er arms fulcrumed intermediate their ends and having rearwardly and forwardly extending mail-receiving and mail-delivery wings,' respectively, and containing correspondingly-facing throat-like openings, the mail-receivingarm normally assuming a substantially horizontal position and the mail delivery. arm normally assuming a substantially vertical position with its wing facing upwardly, opposing retractible detents carried by said wings and normally extending into their openings, and a pendant carrier member for a mail-bag adapted for suspension from said wings and movable into and out of their respective openings in transferring a mail bag to and from said wings, said detents 'releasably retaining the carrier on the respective wings, the weight of the mail bag holding the delivery arm in a downwardly-swung horizontal position and the weight of the bag on the receiving the lower end of said bar for connecting a mailbag thereto.

7. In a hanger for a mail-bag, a suspension block, a laterally-swinging bar depending from said block, and a mail bag receiving cross member fulcrumed at the lower end of said bar for swinging in a direction at right angles to that of the bar.

GUSTAV W. LANGE. GUSTAV M. LANGE. 

